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What?How had she come to that conclusion?
Okay, maybe it was the smirk. And the fact that she’d caught him fucking around once upon a time.
“That’s it. You got me,” he said dryly. “After instructing you to meet me here at dawn, I decided to hit the club last night and pick up some babes to bang on my balcony all night long.”
“There was more than one this time?”
He shot her a look. “Grab your board, nosy. It’s time to brave the waves.”
“You’re messing with me right now, aren’t you?”
Luke grinned as he bent to tether his stick. “Nope. It really is time to get you acclimated to the water.”
Expelling a huffy breath, she knelt beside her board. “You are very annoying.”
“Yup. Now strap the leash to your right ankle. You’ll want to ride with that foot planted towards the back of the board if it’s your dominant one.”
She wrapped the Velcro cuff about her right ankle, her sass fading as the nerves set in. “I really don’t think I’m ready for this.”
They rose, sights shifting as one out to sea. Which Luke already knew — having checked the wave tracker on his watch last night — was just about as calm as it could be. “Nah. You got this. Nothing but baby waves for the next few hours.”
Andy didn’t appear any more relieved to hear this as she shuffled her feet. But, hey, she was at least shuffling her feet in some sand, so that was progress.
“Come on, Bird. No more stalling.” This time he waited for her, and together they headed off for the ocean, boards tucked under their arms.
When the first surge of water rose up to greet their feet, Andy gave a soft gasp but continued forward. Soon it was swirling about their shins. Then their knees.
“How you doing?” he asked as they ventured further. “The suit helping?”
“No,” she shot back, looking panicked but also — ever-so-slightly — excited as she stared at the water breaking around her thighs. “Okay, maybe a little.”
“Am I in danger of you jumping me again?”
She narrowed her eyes at his teasing, but another tiny smile tugged at her mouth.
As soon as they were past the small waves crumbling into the shoreline, they mounted their boards. “Come on,” he said, already slicing through the water, “we’re just gonna go around the zone. Nothing too scary.”
Andy didn’t appear convinced of this but bravely paddled after him anyway. Luke matched his pace to hers, and soon they were cruising through dark emerald-green water side by side.
At first, Andy’s strokes were as tense as her petite frame on the board, but gradually the sparkling serenity of the Pacific worked its magic on her, and she relaxed into a more natural rhythm. Maybe not quite so graceful and fluid as her performance in the pool, but still, Luke was impressed. Especially considering how their first surf lesson had started out.
“Someone’s been practicing.”
Her gaze flickered to his. “Someone ordered me to.”
“Ordered, huh?”
“Yeah. In a sticky note.” She turned up her nose, her expression making it abundantly clear what she thought of said note.
Yeah, scribbling “I’m sorry” in the postscript of a Post-it note probably didn’t quite cut it in terms of an apology. He should probably offer a more substantial one. Maybe an explanation as to why he’d snapped at her at the pool on Sunday. That would be the mature thing to do.
But Luke wasn’t feeling particularly mature. And that pissy expression of hers was provoking. “So how many laps did you do?” he asked instead.
She pressed her lips together and turned to glare at the horizon as though she found the fiery strata of color there to be as irritating as his question.
“Come on,” he cajoled, “just tell me you did twenty-five. I need to hear it.”
She let out a put-upon sigh. “Fine.Yes, I did twenty-five.”
